Means for operating gates.



C. We WITSIL. MEANS FOR OPERATING GATES.

AP1 LI0ATI0N FILED JAN.4,1913.

1,073,552. Patented Sept. 16, 1913.

narran stares ramena onirica,

CHARLES W. WITSIL, OF EAST STROUDSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, .ASSIGNOR 0F ONEHALF T0 FRANK O. WILLIAMS, OF ANALOMINK, PENNSYLVANIA.

MEANS FOR OPERATING GATES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

i'llatented Sept. 16, 1913.

Application filed January 4, 1913. Serial No. 740,132.

To all 'whom t may conce/rn.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES 1V. VrrsIL, a citizen of the United States,and a resident ot' East Stroudsburg, in the county oi' Monroe and Stateot' Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Means for OperatingGates, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

rlhe present invention is designed more particularly an improvement inthe gate operating means forming the subject oli Letters Patent No.1,043,654 granted to me November 5, 1912, and has 'for its design toimprove the said means in various part-iculars, to the end thatconvenience and efticiency in operation may be promoted, as well aseconomy of manufacture and sim plicity of adjustment.

The invention will be particularly explained in the specific descriptionhereinatter to be given.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part ofthis specification, in which the figure is a perspective view of a gateprovided with my improved operating means.

In the practical embodiment illustrated any approved hinge post 10 isprovided, to which the gate 11 is hinged; a latch post 12 having a catch13 to be engaged by a latch 14 on the gate; and road posts 15 at eachside ot' the hinge post 10, said road posts being provided with catches13a to engage the latch 14. It is to be understood that the term roadpost and the form of the post is not of moment, since any equivalentstructure will answer.

The gate is adapted to be swung on its hinges by operating ropes orequivalent Vflexible elements 1G, which may be continuous with eachother; they are secured, to a drum 17 appurtenant to the gate hinge, andextend in opposite directions from said drum, over idlers 19 carried atthe tops of the road-post-s 15, and to a connection with operatinglevers 20 fulcrumed at one end on said posts, as at 20, and providedwith a suitable handle 21 at the free end oit' each lever, the handle inthe present instance being shown as consisting ot' a laterally bent arm.The connection between an operating rope 16 and a lever 20 is preferablyeffected by securing the end of the rope to an eye 22 on the shank Q3having a hook 211 pass ing through an orifice 20" in the lever, so

that there is a relative turning movement between the shank and thelever, to relieve the shank oit' strain by permitting it to assume aposition substantially in line with the end of the operating rope whenthe lever is swung vertically on its fulcrum 9.011.

The latch 11 is adapted to be tripped by a latch bar Q5, which rangeslongitudinally oi' the gate 11, being pivoted intermediate its ends asat 25, to any convenient member 26 of said gate. The inner end o1 thelatch bar 25 extends adjacent to the hinge end o1 the post and isprovided with a weight 27 normally tending to lower that end of the bar,there being any suit-able stop Q8 on the gate to limit the downwardmovement ot' the latch bar. Attached to the inner end oit' the latchbar, preferably by a connection with the weight 27, is a latch sti-ine'2S), having branches 30 that are bent around a vertical drum 31 in tixedrelation to the drum 17, said branches 30 o1 the latch string extendingin opposite directions from the drum 31 toward the road posts 15. Theouter end ot each latch string 3() is secured to a pull rod 32 adaptedto slide in lugs 20c on the lever 20, the pull rod terminating at itsouter end in a lateral arm 35, constituting a finger-piece parallel withthe handle 2l of the lever 20, so that when the level' handle isgrasped, the linger of the operator may conveniently engage the arm 33of the pull rod, lor exerting a pull on the latch string. A coil spring311 surrouiuls the pull rod 32, between the lugs 20 and :lor returningthe pull rod after a sliding movement by the linger ol' the operator.Preferably there is formed on the drum 17, a peripheral llange 35 belowthe operating ropes 1G, to guide said ropes, and a peripheral `[lange 3Gat the upper end ot the drum, :tor a similar purpose.

The latch 14 is itulcrumed at a point be tween its ends to rockvertically on its pivot pin 71, which passes through the iront upright11" o1 the gate. The gate as shown is formed of tubing, and said 'trentupright is received in a lateral recess 72 in the latch 141-, the pivotpin passing through the said upright, through the inner wall ot.' therecess 72, and through a cap plate 73, which closes the outer end ot thesaid recess, and is suitably secured.

The latch bar 25 is provided at its outer end with a lateral stud 25"disposed above the inner endk of the latch 14, which is in the form otan arm 75, and a retractile spring v76 is connected at its lower endwith the ward the bottom edge to be received in a similar depression 13bin the catch.

With the described construction, an occupant of a vehicle approachingthe gate in ,either direction, may grasp the adjacent lever 20 by thehandle 21 and also grasp the arm 33 of the pull rod 22, to exert a pullon said rod 32 and on the latch string, which will raise the inner endof the latch bar or latch trip bar 25, depressing its outer end to lcause the trip stud 25" to depress the arm 75 of the latch 14 and raisesaid latch out ot engagement with the catch 13. The latch having thusbeen. released, the lever is swung down on its ulcrum and the operatingrope 16 will thus swing the gate away from the operator until the latch14 engages the catch plate 13a of the distant road post 15. rilhe wagonhaving passed through t-he gate, the occupant may swing the other lever2O downward to close the gate.

rlhe described arrangement of the operating ropes, the latch strings,lever, and the pull rods for the latch,it will be seen, enables a personto release the latch and operate the gate with the greatest convenience;the parts provide a simple and inexpensive construction and minimize thepossibility of the parts getting out of order.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. A gate-operating means comprising, in combination with the gate, gateposts and road posts, idlers on the road-posts, operating ropesextending overthe idlers, .a lever ulcrumed on each road post,rope-connecting members to which the ropes are secured, said membersbeing mounted on the levers between the ulcrums and the free ends, agate latch, a latch-tripping device on the gate, a latch stringconnected with the latchtripping device and having branches extending inopposite directions to the levers on the road posts, a pull-rodvrcarriedby each lever to movebodily therewith in the movement of the lever, oneend'of the .pull rod being secured to the latch string and theoppositeend having the form of a handle lo'- cated suiiciently close to the endof the lever for both to be grasped by one hand, and a retract-ilespring for restoring the pull-rod to its original position after anoperating movement.

2. The combination with a hinged gate,

gate posts and road posts, .of gate-operating ropes extending roin thedirections to the road posts, levers to which said Vropes are secured,the levers being tulcrumed on the road posts, a latch, a 'latchtrippingdevice, a latch string connected with said tripping device and branchingin opposite directions to the levers, a longi-r tudinally slidingv pullrod on each lever, each lever having guide lugs in which the pull gateinopposite rod has movement, a spring betweenV said 1 lugs and serving toreturn the pull Vrod to the original position after movement thereof,the lever and the pull rod having lateral` handle members approximatelyparallel with each other and sufiiciently close to be both grasped bythe hand of the operator.

ln testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES WV. WVITSL.

Witnesses:

ROBT. GRUvER, I F. O. ViTiLLiAMs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patentsg Washington, D. C.

